Film

Thirteen years after declaring independence from Soviet Georgia, Abkhazia is still not recognised as a legitimate state by other countries. Monocle correspondent Shaun Walker reports from this former tourist paradise, still…

Article

No one – not even its only ally, Russia – recognises Abkhazia as a legitimate state. But 13 years after declaring independence from former Soviet Georgia, the region’s de facto government is determined to put it on the map…

Radio

Mike Pompeo is set to make another trip to Pyongyang but is total denuclearisation a mere pipe dream? Plus: the nonagenarian challenging Brexit in the European Court of Justice and how the disputed region of Abkhazia hopes…

Article

Following this summer’s Georgian war, breakaway territory Abkhazia has been recognised as independent by Russia and Nicaragua. Limited diplomatic credibility hasn’t stopped it wanting the trappings of statehood: it hopes…

Monocle Minute

It’s a good month to be a football fan. This weekend the best in the Americas meet in the Copa America, while a week later Europe’s finest take part in Euro 2016. And if you can’t wait for either there’s always the World…

Article

After last summer’s disastrous war against Russia, Georgia’s opposition leaders felt that patriotism should come before any attack on their president, Mikheil Saakashvili. But now the time for retribution is getting nearer…

Article

Article

Somaliland does democracy (while the rest of the world denies the country's existence), Yemen's president claims he's been a crime-fighting success (while his country goes into meltdown), and it's back to school in Gaza …

Article

With corporate brands more powerful than country brands, there’s a lot of work out there for agencies keen to rethink a nation’s identity. Over the next 40-plus pages *Monocle* looks at the construct of countries.

Article

From a southern African state that has gone from hungry nation to food exporter, to a vast new port in Mexico and a sea of trouble in Europe, we pinpoint the places that will make the headlines – for good and bad reasons…

Article

But only a third of countries have acknowledged it and the young state has no seat at the UN and is forbidden from playing in international football matches. However, in the capital, Pristina, they have a plan.